Sunday Feed: Taxin' Junk Food Edition

o busy this Sunday to lounge around and thumb through the morning papers, we've taken a crack at culling some interesting stories. You're on your own for coffee though.

In The New York Times, Mark Bittman penned a provocative piece calling for a bad-food tax. Citing the well-documented problems of obesity and other health issues plaguing the nation, Bittman calls for a 2 cents per ounce soda tax, as well as other theoretical tariffs on doughnuts and french fries. Under his plan a sixer of coke would cost $1.44 more than it does now. The thought is the tax would drive down consumption of the sweets that are costing our nation a bundle.

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The article touches all the hot-points, including how this tax would affect the poor, whose expenditures on junk foods are typically disproportionate to middle and wealthy America, and fantasizes about a nation where reduced corn and soybean subsidies create a land where seasonal greens, vegetables, whole grains, dried legumes and fruit are sold at drugstores, street corners, convenience stores, bodegas, supermarkets, liquor stores, schools, libraries and other community centers.

Bittman talks about the need to educate the public how to use these staples, but he neglects to comment on the average dual-income household's lack of time to turn raw staples into edible food. In this go-go-go age a quick sack of chips and a Coke may remain a favorite breakfast, even if it costs more.

In other news, the Times also celebrates National Tequila Day in their own quiet and more subtle way. That container of peach tequila may look good, but you'll find some interesting local infused booze later this week in the Observer.

Made In Texas will make visible the human labor that is most often hidden inside the kitchens, factories and warehouses of Texan businesses. On each of 7 large platforms, a living scene taken directly from a factory, workshop or enterprise in the Dallas/Fort Worth area will be taking place -- assembling tamales, stretching queso Oaxaca, cooking salsa, pressing linens, polishing silverware/plates, and arranging flowers.

Neither announcement tells us if a chef or other food professional is responsible for the edible display. I wonder how much time you have to spend pontificating on the meaning of a honey glazed rib before you can eat it.

So what do Aters think of paying more for sugary cola, and hard-boiled eggs by the thousands becoming art? Let us know in the comments.

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